Friday, July 11, 2014

Greetings from Philadelphia! We're currently packed into our little studio in Rittenhouse Square (watching "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything - Julie Newmar" - a long time favorite) with one very unhappy cat. Zeph is a good traveler, but not so cool with suddenly living in a room 12 floors up. Little buddy does not like heights and starts shaking every time I hold him and even remotely approach the window. He likes that we brought his favorite sweater, though, (we call it his mama - you can see how ridiculous this is here) and has finally become comfortable enough to sleep with it on the chair in the room, and not buried beneath the bed. I feel pretty terrible for moving him and taking him away from his birds. He used to like to sit on the counter in the kitchen of our Pittsburgh place and look over the back yard, I'll miss coming home from work and seeing him watching the finches and robins out the window.

But 48 hours in, we dig it. Chris and I spent our first full day in Philly weaving our way through the Italian Market area looking for "For Rent" signs and getting sufficiently sun burnt, maybe a little grumpy, tired, and hungry. But so far, so good. He found a great barber shop with the sweetest dog (see above), and we stopped into a little cafe in the same area for lunch that was cozy and -- most importantly -- had air conditioning. We've found a few leads for places, but we'll see. We both just desperately want to find an apartment and get settled in.

Today we're checking out a few more neighborhoods we've had on our radar and hopefully scheduling some more viewings together before I start work on Monday. I hate apartment hunting, and after this move, I feel as if we'll be settled for awhile. We better be at least, because, man I don't want to have to do this again. I hate how competitive it is, having to look at a place with a bunch of other people who are also desperate to find somewhere to live. Trolling Criagslist and Zillow and HotPads, and all the others constantly, hoping something new will turn up. I'm so thankful to at least be able to be here while we look, the temporary place is a godsend, but I know we just want something that feels like home.

This weekend we're planning to check out more places, but taking a break on Saturday to hit up the beach. I can't wait! It'll be nice to have a day to chill out a bit before I jump into this new position and before Chris hits the pavement on his own to look at apartments. I'm looking forward to packing up the cooler, grabbing my swim suit, and hitting the road early to get to the coast for a day at the ocean. If you need Zeph, he will most likely be chilling under the bed.

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comments:

Hey girlll! Just catching up on my blog reading and saw this post and was sooooo excited to see that you've moved to Philadelphia! It's thee best city! You will LOVE it here!! There are some really sweet thrift shops outside the city limits that are fun to explore! Let me know if you need an thrifting adventure buddy or recommendations on anything!! I adore this city and am always happy to help others discover how awesome it is!! xoxo

Rittenhouse! I've spent most of my life in Delaware myself but Philly is my home city. Seeing your photos makes me feel a little homesick and nostalgic. I love everything about that place. As for now, I'm a mid-Atlantic transplant living in Western Maine! Feels like we've almost switched lives. Good luck with absolutely everything over the next couple weeks! You deserve the good fortune! :-)

South Philly is such a fun location! If you're struggling to find a good apartment option, I highly recommend expanding your search a bit. My husband and I love living in Collingswood, NJ... a young, vibrant town that is more affordable than the city, but just a 10 minute commute by train!

Philly looks & sounds fantastic. So glad you guys took the plunge and are loving it so far! Best of luck on the apartment hunting, hate it too, and it's always turned me into quite the stress case... which I tend to be anyway! ;) But hang in there, I know you'll find something fantastic. Enjoy your weekend! And aw, Zeph! Love reading about his adventures too, what a dear!! xoxo

Hey Julie! If you'd prefer a beach town that isn't swamped with amusement parks and crazy teenagers, definitely check out Cape May. It's a lovely Victorian town on the southern tip of NJ. Make sure to eat at George's (I recommend the salmon bagel!), shop the Washington Street Mall, and end the day at Sunset Beach! We go every year and it is such a wonderful trip!

the mosaic photo, is that the painted bride? i love philly! make sure you check out tattooed moms, chill dive bar. also philly AIDS thrift usually has some pretty rad stuff, and have a bite at honey's sit & eat too :)

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